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THE EARLY BELLS 

OF ■ 

PAUL REVERE. 

A. H. NICHOLS. 



BOSTON ; 
1904. 



EARLY BELLS OF PAUL REVERE 



BOSTON 

1904 






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Second Church, Hanover Street, Boston 
(Pulled down 1844) 



THE EARLY BELLS OF PAUL REVERE. 

By Arthtje, H. Nichols, M.D., of Boston, U. S. A. 
Member of the Ancient Society of College Youths, London. 

In the year 1788, Paul Revere, patriot and versatile craftsman 
of keen artistic sense, established a lurnace for heavy castings at 
his foundry on Lynn street, now Commercial street, corner of Fos- 
ter street, in Boston, where within a few years he undertook the 
production of church-bells. This business was successfully prose- 
cuted until his death, in 1818, at the age of eighty-nine years, dur- 
ing which period more than two hundred bells were turned out. 
The original foundry having been damaged extensively by the mem- 
orable gale of October 9, 1804, which carried away the steeple of 
Christ Church and the roof of the present tower of King's Chapel, 
the work of casting was transferred to Revere's estate in Canton, 
still in the possession of his descendants. 

Early in the eighteenth century bell-founding had attained a 
high degree of perfection ; long practical experience having led to 
the adoption of a uniform design, or pattern, corresponding very 
nearly in contour to the quadrant of an ellipse, the mathematical 
curve which harmonizes with the law of acoustics. In theory an 
instrument moulded in this shape should emit a series of sounds 
called the tonic, or fundamental ; its third and fifth ; its octave 
above, called nominal ; and its octave below, or hum-note. In 
practice, however, founders had learned the advantage of shortening 
the bell and thus sharpening, or raising, the hum-note in order to 
prevent the over-powering of the sub-notes by its prolonged drone, 
or nasal twang, which in the Spanish bells, designed of greater 
height, affects the ear so unpleasantly. This defection from the 
chord does not, as might be expected, convey a sense of discord ; 
on the contrary, by the deflection of the modified note into a sepa- 
rate plane, as ingeniously suggested by Canon Simpson, the more 
tuneful fundamentals and nominals are rendered prominent, espe- 
cially when the bells are struck in rapid succession, each making a 
complete revolution to each blow. At the same time the ear is de- 
lighted by the frequent resolution of these discords into concords, 
which must take place if a ring of bells is correctly attuned. It is 
this sequence of striking harmonic effects that constitutes the ground 
plan of scientific change ringing, wherein melody is relegated to the 
back-ground. This principle of advanced music, always appi'eciated 
by the English ringing guilds, has been expanded in the art of con- 
structing counterpoint, in which, under certain conditions, discords 
are admitted with beautiful effect ; and the application of this same 
theoiy of harmonics has imparted brilliancy and endurance to many 
of the best classical compositions. 



It is desirable to explain that these harmonic effects are not pro- 
duced by the system of chiming as commonly practised in America, 
in accordance with which psalm-tunes are slowly hammered out by 
means of an electrical or other mechanical makeshift, the bells being 
rigidly bolted mouth downward to an immovable beam. It is only 
in change ringing, when the bells are moved with velocity upon the 
principle of the pendulum rather than that of the cart wheel, and 
each managed by a separate ringer, that the carrying power and 
harmonic blending of the sound waves is fully developed. This fas- 
cinating art, at one time cultivated in Boston, New York and Phila- 
delphia, became lost and virtually forgotten in this country after the 
Revolution.* 

As to the component parts of bell metal, the proper proportion 
of copper to tin (about 13 to 4) necessary to ensui-e the maximum 
resonance consistent with safe brittleness was well known to found- 
ers of the seventeenth century, although the law of atomic weights 
or chemical equivalents had not then been discovered. A knowl- 
edge of these fundamental laws, however, Avas not alone adequate 
to secure the production of a superior instrument ; and if many of 
Kevere's early bells must be allowed to be of inferior quality, this 
would be the natural result of his want of practical experience and 
early training ; for without such qualifications he could hardly have 
evolved the various empirical rules and delicate processes by which 
the English founders had learned to mould that homogeneous, tena- 
cious and elastic amalgam essential to the production of perfect 
vibration. For instance, it would appear that in fusing his metals 
he did not at first appreciate the importance of maintaining a com- 
pariitively low temperature in order to throw off, in the form of 
scoria or dross, certain impurities which are reduced by greater heat 
and thus retained within the amalgam, to the detriment of its sound- 
producing qualities. Nor could he have appreciated what has since 
been demonstrated, viz. : the marked difference which exists in the 
brittleness and sonorous properties of both copper and tin from in- 
dividual mines. Moreover, none of his bells show traces of any at- 
tempt to correct errors of tone by grinding, now accomplished by 
machinery. 

Before this venture of Revere's the art of bell-founding was prac- 
tically unknown in America, though a few bells had been cast in 
the colonies, notably the second Liberty bell,| made by Pass and 

* In the tower of Christ Church, Philadelphia, is erected a tablet commemorating the 
only pei-fect peal ever achieved in America. This " peal-board " records that on June 
9, 1850, was successfully rung in three hours and fifteen minutes the composition known 
to the fraternity as Holt's ten part peal of Grandsire Triples, consisting of 5040 changes. 
The band was made up of some " College Youths " who had just completed an en- 
gagement as hand-bell ringers under the auspices of P. T. Barnum, augmented by 
other English ringers who chanced to be in that city. The peal was conducted by the 
late H. W. Haley, one of the most expert London ringers and composers. 

tOn June 17, 1903, this bell, escorted by a numerous delegation of civic dignitaries 
fi-om Philadelphia, was di'awn in procession through Boston, and displayed on the 
Common. 



Snow, in 1753, for the Provincial Assembly of Pennsylvania, and 
weighing 2089 lbs. And yet the first New England colonists had 
brought from the " Ringing Island " a love for the sound of musi- 
cal bells, and their churches were suppHed with bells of a light 
calibre imported from England. Thus Prince speaks of a bell on 
the first house for public worship in Newtown, now Cambridge, in 
1632 ; and there exist records of others, viz., in Salem, 1638 ; in 
Boston on tlie First Church, 1G41 ; Watertown, 1648 ; Charlestown, 
1657: Maiden, 1658; and Hadley, 1670. 

While many of the delicate details essential to the creation of a mu- 
sical bell were therefore unknown to Revere, no better models could 
liave been found than those at his command in the towei's and steeples 
of Boston and vicinity. With the sweet-toned ring of Christ Church, 
distant but a few hundred feet from his foundry, he had long been 
familiar, having been one of tlie ringers of that tower ; and within 
the radius of half a mile were the fine bells of Brattle Square Church 
(3694 lbs.), the gift of Gov. Hancock in 1772; of King's Chapel 
(2475 lbs.), hung June 12, 1772; and of the Old South Church 
(1200 lbs.), bought with a legacy of £200 from Capt. Timothy 
Cunningham. 

It was doubtless with a consciousness of deficiencies in methods 
that, in 1804, Joseph Warren Revere, who four years before had 
become associated with his father in business, visited England and 
the Continent in order to acquire all available information pertain- 
ing to the manufacture of brass and copper. After his return, it is 
certain that finer castings were produced, until, in 1816, a heavy 
bell was made for King's Chapel,* which for homogeneous casting, 
power, grandeur and mellowness of tone can hardly be surpassed. 
Its minor chord, or harmonious discord, gives it distinct identity, 
and the writer recalls that often on a quiet night, when the bells of 
the city were being rung for fire, its ponderous boom could be dis- 
tinguished above all others. As shown, however, by the late H. P. 
Munroe, who was endowed with a phenomenal perception for deli- 
cate musical sounds, this bell could form no part of a ring, or 
chime ; since, by the resolution of its harmonics by the consonant 
vibration of other bells attuned to the same key, the most dissonant, 
doleful combinations would result. 

It is a curious fact that inferior bells when placed in a favorable 
environment may emit a pleasing sound ; hence some of Revere's 
bells, hung in a lofty belfry, upon a hill top, or in a plain surrounded 
by hills, have attained a fair reputation, though in reality their nomi- 
nals, or tonics, may vary widely from a true chord. As a practical 
ringer Revere excelled in his hangings and fittings, and his bells 
being therefore evenly adjusted and swinging with velocity, were 

* The English bell had been cracked while being tolled for evening service, May 8, 
1814. 



easily managed and their sounds fully brought out. To Revere is 
to be accorded the honor of introducing a new handicraft into Massa- 
chusetts, while his meritorious endeavor to excel in all branches of 
campanology should endear his name to the devotees of that art. 
After his death, the business was carried on by his son Joseph un- 
til, in 1828, it passed to the Revere. Copper Company, which never 
undertook bell-casting. 

The following illustration of Revere's method of hanging shows 
stop-stay, slider and ground-truck. 




In connection with the loss of many historic bells, we must de- 
plore the frequent manner of their destruction at the hands of a 
bungling sexton by clappering, or striking a heavy blow when the 
instrument is at rest in a fixed position, a malpractice not permitted 
by English ringing guilds. It was by such an abuse that the first 
Liberty bell was cracked, shortly after it had been raised to the stee- 
ple ; and its successor was likewise broken, while being tolled on July 
8, 1835, as a mark of respect to the memory of Chief Justice John 
Marshall of Virginia, then lying dead in Philadelphia. By some 
American founders an especial instrument for the speedy destruction 
of their bells is supplied in the shape of a supplementary tolling 
hammer, which is quite superfluous, inasmuch as tolling is in reality 
easily performed by swinging the bell. On occasions of mourning, 
a still more impressive effect is secured by the half-mufiled peal of 
six, eight, or ten bells, in which the clappers, reinforced on one side 
by a disk of leather, emit alternately a series of full and then sup- 
pressed tones. The twelve heavy bells of St. Paul's, London, were 
thus pealed by the " College Youths " upon the decease of the late 
President McKinley, in 1902. 

The following list is believed to include every bell inscribed with 
the name of Paul Revere as founder. All bells made later were 




First Church, Roxburv 




From painting by G. N. Faueht 



King's Chapel, Boston 



probably marked Paul Revere and Son, or Revere and Co. 
No. Date. Weight. 

1. 1792. For the Second church on Hanover Street, Bos- 912 lbs. 
ton, called the New Brick, and later the Cock- 
erel church. It bears the inscription : " The 
First Church Bell cast in Boston, in 1792, by 
Paul Revere." Many porosities may be seen 
in its haunch, while its sound is of short duration, 
harsh and panny. Hung in a lofty belfry, it 
was very noisy, and though rung for fire, the 
less discordant bell of the New North Church 
was swung at morning, noon and night. After 
the destruction of the steeple in the gale of 1869, 
on which occasion the swaying of the HoUis 
Street Church spire was watched by the writer, 
the bell was removed, in 1871, from the tower 
and stored until sold, in 1901, to the St. James 
Church, in Cambridge. The original bell of the 
New Brick Church, raised in 1743, was sold in 
1780, and bought, in 1783, by John Hancock for 
the Third Church in Jamaica Plain. It bore the 
inscription : " Thomas Lester of London made 
me, 1742." Its weight was 342 lbs. ; its cost, 
$333.33. It was replaced by a larger bell in 
1821. The larger bell of the Old North Meet- 
ing House, weighing 500 lbs., removed from this 
church when, during the winter of 1775, it was 
unnecessarily pulled down for fuel by permis- 
sion of the British commander, was hung in the 
New Brick, and cracked in 1792. Incidentally 
it may be mentioned that in this same year, 1792, 
a bell, still in use, weighing more than one ton, 
was cast at the Hope furnace, in Rhode Island, 
for the First Baptist Meeting House in Provi- 
dence. 

The Town of Amherst, 638. 

For Capt. Lane, 50. 

The Town of Westford, 675. 

The Academy of Westford, 120. 

The Church at Hallowell, 160. 

The Church at Marshfield, 673. 

The Church at Cohasset, 735. 

The Frigate building in Boston,* 150. 

The Town of Newburyport, afterward sold to the 

town of Bradford, 750. 

11. " The Town of Groveland, Mass., bearing the famil- 
iar inscription : 695. 

" The living to the church I call, 
And to the grave I summon all." 

*Tlie ConstUutioti, whose keel was laid in Nov., 1794. Sho was launched Oct. 21, 
1797, and first set sail July 20, 1798. The bell numbered 23, which is of more appropri- 
ate weight, was probably substituted for that numbered 9, The other frigate, Boston, 
built at Hart's wharf, was not begun till Aug., 1798. 



2. 


1793. 


3. 


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4. 


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5. 


(( 


6. 


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7. 


1794. 


8. 


1795. 


9. 


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10. 


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12. 


1795, 


13. 


1796, 


14. 


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15. 


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16. 


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17. 


1797. 



The Town of New Bedford, 756. 

The Town of Portland, 1073. 

The Town of Dover, N. H., 892. 

The Town of Sudbury, 695. 

The Town of Falmouth, 821. 

The Town of Boston : The Rev"*. Mr. Kirkland's 

Society, or New South, at Church Green, 1125. 

18. " The Town of Thomastown, a present from Gen. 

Knox, recast in 1822, 683. 

19. " The Town of Ipswich. According to tradition, 

Abram Perkins with his team hauled this bell 
from the foundry. 

20. " The Town of Providence, for a school, 

21. " The Town of Sandwich, for the Academy, 

22. « For St. John's Church, Portsmouth, N. H. The 

original bell, weighing 600 lbs., was given to the 
society, in 1745, by the officers of the New 
Hampshire regiment, having been brought, with 
much other loot, from Louisbourg after the cap- 
ture of that stronghold in the same year. It 
was hung in the steeple, at the western end of 
the wooden edifice built in 1732. Broken in 
1797, it was recast by Revere in the same year. 
On the morning of Dec. 24, 1806, when the 
church was destroyed by fire, the font of Por- 
phyritic marble, taken by Capt. John T. Mason 
at the capture of Senegal, from the French, in 
1758, and given in 1761 to the church by his 
daughters, was saved by the personal efforts of 
Alexander Ladd ; but the bell was damaged, and 
was therefore again recast by Revere, in 1807. 
For a third time, it was recast by the Blake 
Bell Co., in 1896. 

23. 1798. The Frigate Constitution, 242. 

24. " The Town of Northfield, Mass., 944. 

25. " The Town of Petersham, Mass., 1150. 

26. " The Town of Dedham, for the Court House, 224. 

27. " The Town of Roxbury, recast by Revere and Co. 

in 1819, 862. 

28. " The Town of Worcester, 1181. 

29. " The Town of Bridgewater, for a school, 72. 

30. " The ship Eliza, 52. 

31. " The ship [unknown], 

32. " For Gen. Moultrie, South Carolina, 75. 

33. 1799. The Town of Wenham, 500. 

34. " The Town of Haverhill, 689. 

35. " The Town of Boscawen, N. H., 510. 

36. " The ToAvn of Greenfield, 250. 

37. -' The Town of Exeter, N. H.. 868. 

38. « The Town of Brookfield, ' 683. 



39. 1800. The Town of Pownalborough, now Wiscasset, Me., 958. 

On Aug. 3, 1900, was celebrated the anniversary 
of the raising of this bell to the belfry of the 
First Church, erected on the site of the present 
edifice, when its history was related in an address 
given by R. K. Sewall, of Wiscasset. It was 
brought from Boston in a ship of which Capt. 
Joseph Choate was master. It cost, at 2*. 6**. 
per pound, $416. Bills for hanging, as well as 
for liquor used on the occasion, are preserved 
among the town records. 

40. 1800. The Town of Walpole, N. H., 936. 

41. " The Town of Warren, R. I., 1292. 

42. " The Town of Sunderland, 958. 

43. 1801. The Town of Greenland, N. H., 720. 

44. " The Town of Weston, 968. 

45. 1802. The Town of Amherst, N. H., the gift of Perkins 

Nichols, a merchant of Boston, son of Gen. 
Moses Nichols of Amherst, N. H., 

46. " The Town of Milford, N. H., the gift of Perkins 

Nichols; removed in 1871 to the town house. 

For many details relating to Col. Revere, as well as for the record 
of the early bells of Massachusetts, the writer is indebted to the 
valuable researches of Elbridge H. Goss, Esq., of Melrose. 



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